A self-storage property in Island Park has secured an $11.5 million recapitalization loan, as demand for self-storage rises on Long Island.
The three-story, 740-unit facility on 1.44 acres at 4055 Austin Blvd. is owned by CSS Island Park, an affiliate of Walnut Creek, Calif.-based Pegasus Group. Managed by Public Storage, the Island Park self-storage facility was built in 2004. The recapitalization loan, arranged by San Francisco-based commercial mortgage banker Gantry, pays off the property’s maturing commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) debt, according to a company statement.
The self-storage sector continues to grow with 55.4 million square feet of new space coming online this year, a 2.6% expansion of existing national inventory, according to a new report from StorageCafe. The New York metropolitan area leads the nation in new self-storage construction in 2026 at 3.2 million square feet. However, the region remains the most storage-constrained major market in the country, with just 4.1 square feet of storage per person compared to a national average of 7.4 square feet, the report found.
Here on Long Island, self-storage development has been prolific in the past couple of years. A three-story, 108,201-square-foot self-storage facility with 970 units at 1550 Sunrise Highway in Copiague opened in January. Managed by Extra Space Storage, it was developed by Ardent Companies and Ironwood Development Partners. In Feb. 2025, the Crest Group opened a 1,008-unit, CubeSmart-branded self-storage facility on 3 acres at 514 Middle Country Road in St. James.
Melville-based developer Peconic Equities is building a 70,000-square-foot self-storage facility on a 3.3-acre site at 61 Main Road in Riverhead. The 530-unit self-storage facility, to be managed by Extra Space Storage, is expected to open in June.
The $13 million project is the second self-storage development for Peconic Equities, headed by principals Corey Gluckstal and Andrew Zambratto. In 2023, the company completed a 78,000-square-foot self-storage facility on the site of a vacant industrial building at 1590 Lakeland Ave. in Bohemia, which is also managed by Extra Space Storage.
Gluckstal said the area’s self-storage market is one of the country’s best.
“Long Island is one of the top three self-storage markets in the country,” he told LIBN. “Rents for self-storage units are some of the nation’s highest.”
Gluckstal said more people are renting apartments here, which creates more demand for self-storage, and self-storage customers are keeping those units longer.
The five-year, fixed rate, non-recourse loan for the Island Park facility was provided by an insurance company lender and arranged by the Gantry’s Robert Slatt and Alex Poulos.
“The Island Park facility is a high quality, stabilized asset leveraging its strategic location and climate-controlled units to lead its competitive set,” Slatt said in the statement. “Gantry’s exclusive network of insurance company lenders remains steadfastly committed to their self-storage financing programs and target high performance assets like this with their best terms.”
Founded in 1988, Pegasus Group focuses on the self-storage industry. The company owns and operates more than 30 properties under the Central Self Storage banner in California, Hawaii, Arizona, Oregon and Washington, with the Island Park facility as its only East Coast asset.
